I’m Blessed

What a great week we had!

Everyone in the house is now well. 

Knut weeded the whole garden and picked all the green beans for me.  Then he snapped all the green beans while watching the Olympics.  He got all the parts of the built in bookshelves (project of the Summer) stained, too! 

This last weekend we had the opportunity to represent our small church in the larger church synod at the biannual convention.  The camp that the kids went to this summer sent out some of their counselors to do the childcare and they were fantastic!  I remember going to the nursery at one point to ask what I should do about a committee meeting I was supposed to attend.  The childcare hours did not line up with my meeting hours, and I wanted to know if I should skip part of my meeting, or if they had any time to spare.  The college age girl who was watching the 2 younger kids just put her hands over mine, and said as serious as can be: “We came here to serve you, so ANYTHING that you need us to do, just ask.  Of course we can watch them during that time.”

I’m telling you, that as a mother, we don’t hear words like that often, and most especially when it comes to people watching our kids.  I felt so blessed. 

Each evening our kids came home kicking and screaming.  Well, Solveig woke up around 5am every morning and wouldn’t go back to sleep without someone snuggling her, so she ended up snuggling between Knut and I every morning.  That was a blessing too.  She’s a good snuggler.  Some kids are thrashers, and it’s nice when they snuggle.  I think she just needed some extra time knowing we were there.

As far as the seminars, meetings, and training sessions that Knut and I attended…where do I even begin?  Can you even describe how wonderful it is to fellowship with other believers across the US and Canada who you share so much with?  One meeting I missed part of it because I ran into a pastor’s wife I knew when her husband was in seminary years back.  We started sharing our burdens with each other and intimate things on our hearts and it was so mutually encouraging! 

I met a fellow blogger (Hi Carrie!) who I met through a friend of a friend over a year ago.  She lives on the West coast, but our lives are so similar.  Well, she’s about 10 years ahead of me family-wise as her kids are older.  We have been communicating through the internet for awhile now, and it was so neat for her to come up to me and introduce herself.  It was like meeting an old friend for the first time.

The topics had so much depth and the Word of God was held in such high regard by everyone there.  Some seminars I felt like I was back in Bible school with terms being thrown around that I hadn’t heard in ages.  At one seminar that I chose, I walked into the room and everyone else there was either a pastor, seminary graduate, regional pastor, and of course, all men.  It was a small group, but I nearly faked that I was lost and just turned around and left, but they just welcomed me in and I got one of the most brain and heart stimulating conversations I’ve had in ages.

My heart was broken as I heard some of our missionaries who have recently returned from the mission field talk about the lonliness and extreme difficulties they have faced the last few years.  I so appreciate honesty in people.  It’s good to know how we can help, and Knut and I are very much excited to go back to our home church and communicate these needs.  Honestly, it was very convicting to hear what Christians on the other side of the world are dealing with. 

I’m not sure if it was that we spent a weekend with our kids getting superb care, enabling us to be with adults and have uninterrupted conversations, or if it was meeting so many passionate believers at the same time, or if it was the music, the preaching, or just God’s presence so evident throughout it all…we just feel so refreshed.  We went into it saying to each other “We’ve always wanted to go to one of these.  We’ve been really busy, but we may not have a chance to go again for a few years.  Let’s just go even though we’re crazy busy.”  We had no idea it’s just what we needed, and how refreshing the whole thing would be.

Today is back to work.  The kids are tired, but doing pretty well.  Solveig is quite clingy, though.  The kids have hit their chore list with some good energy, and I’ve gotten a bunch of things done already too.  We need to get our house in tip top shape.  Hawaii is a week from tomorrow.  😉  Ahhhhhhh!

Please share your blessings with me too, and others who read the blog.  Just leave your list in the comments, or a link to your list on your blog.  It’s so much fun to fellowship together in this way and see how God is impacting our lives in so many different ways.